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Apple Launches New Mac-PC Ad Campaign

by , 12:55 AM EDT, May 2nd, 2006

Apple Computer launched a new ad campaign on TV and its Web site Monday, a campaign simultaneously promoting Mac OS X's Windows compatibility, Apple's bundled software, and even lampooning traditional Windows foibles. The ads were first aired Monday night on shows including Fox's 24, and currently grace Apple's home page.

The ads feature The Daily Show's John Hodgman, who represents "PCs," and Justin Long (Dodgeball, Herbie Fully Loaded), who represents a "Mac." Each of the commercials is set up with back and forth banter designed to highlight the Mac's good points.


A screen shot from Apple's new Mac & PC ads.

"Viruses" - The first commercial in the list is called "Viruses," where the PC has a literal virus, which the Mac says he can't catch. This is one of the riskier of the commercials in light of the recent spotlight being shined on Mac OS X security.

"Restarting" - This commercial features the fact that Office works on the Mac, while also making fun of the idea that Windows PCs crash.

"Better" - "Better" damns with faint praise by praising what the PC can do with a spread sheet, while the Mac claims to be "better at life stuff," such as making music, pictures, movies, etc.

"iLife" - "iLife" tackles two tasks at once: Lauding the fact that iPod and iTunes work so well together, while simultaneously promoting the rest of Apple's iLife package, which is only available for the Mac. This is a literal embodiment of the iPod Halo Effect.

"Network" - "Everything just kind of works with the Mac," says the Mac character in this commercial, which demonstrates Mac OS X's compatibility in a Windows network, while claiming to more easily work with peripherals like digital cameras.

"WSJ" - The "PC" reads a review of the Mac from the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg calling the Mac "the finest desktop PC on the market at any price."

It should also be noted that none of the above commercials ever say "Windows," instead focusing on the more generic term of "PC" to represent the Wintel hegemony.

Many in the Mac community have been clamoring for such commercials for Apple for some time, ads that hit hard on what they consider to be the benefits of the Mac platform.

[Edit: The story was updated with information on Justin Long, the actor representing the Mac. Thanks to the Guest who provided the information in the comments. - Editor]

Observer Comments

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Close Name:Bosco Posts: 999 Joined: 03 Jun 2002
Subject: Good campaign

These will make a good campaign. I saw the Mossberg ad first and wasn't paying attention (it was just after Chloe tazed that barfly) and couldn't figure out if the egghead guy or the slacker was supposed to be the Mac guy. But the second one I saw, I figured it out. Slacker, good. Dork, bad.

View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: Risky? says who? Oh yeah MSNBC FUD
View Name:Guest
Subject: Mac Actor is Justin Long
Close Name:iGrouch Posts: 660 Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Subject:

Cringe

Close Name:pdx Posts: 3 Joined: 04 Sep 2002
Subject: The Ad Firm Is Not Telling Stories Well

Have the creators of these commercials considered the subject position of the viewer? A vast majority of the audience for these commercials is pc users, and if you're a pc user, who are you going to identify with? The smarmy, cool Mac guy or the well-intentioned yet bumbly PC guy? For those who identify with the PC guy, are they going to feel like they're being made fun of?

What this ad firm is doing here, it seems, has learned nothing from the storytelling mastery we see in Daily Show (where they got one of the actors) or the Colbert Report. That storytelling that make those shows so good: they don't take the message seriously. The generation that Apple is aiming to connect with is much smarter than these commercials.

I think it's time for Apple's ad firm to step up to the plate and swing at a few of the most important issues facing Apple's image: price and speed. And focus attention on the biggest hurdle to expanding market share: an ordinary person's fear of change - "I know my pc, I don't know if I'll know how to use a mac." These are the key problems to tackle for that ad agency. In light of these pressing image and inertia problems, this round of ads fails horribly.

In contrast, remember the "Technologic" iPod ad? Or the iPod Shuffle ads with the colored arrows racing through the dance floors? These were great at framing the product as cool and advanced and by association, you could be too. You see, for most people, the price issue disappears when it comes to an iPod. They're going to get, and they believe they're getting "the best", and it may cost a little more. In contrast, unfortunately, people tend to buy computers - things they spend much more time staring into than their iPods - with a 'cheapest on the market' approach. There are ways to combat this with questions like: "Are you the type of person who spends that little extra on your shoes? Sure we all like a deal, but isn't our time worth more than a PC?" or pick up on a conversation between two people at a coffee shop comparing what they got for the same price. I mean, face it: the person with the PC laptop is going to have to answer no to several key questions: "Is yours dual core? How do you manage all your digital photos? Can you back up your stuff on DVDs?" And the person with the MacBook is going to have to answer no to only one: Games. But maybe not if they can restart their system with bootcamp? But you see, this commercial doesn't exist. Why is that, when these are the real questions people consider when upgrading?

Close Name:Bryan -   TMO Staff Posts: 7334 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject: Re: Mac Actor is Justin Long

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
The actor in the Mac Ad who play the Mac is Justin Long of "Herbie Fully Loaded" and "Dodgeball" fame. Justin was not in "Strangers with Candy". You are probably thinking of Paul Dinello. They do look similar.


Thanks for the note, Guest. The article has been corrected accordingly.

Bryan
Editor
TMO

View Name:Guest
Subject: 7 out of 10
View Name:Guest
Subject: Looking Smug
Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Subject: For what it's worth...

...I hear what people here are saying, and I think that "Viruses," "Restarting," and "Better" could be seen as 'smug' in the way you are saying.

That being said, I think that "iLife," "Network," and "WSJ" are fantastic and seem to avoid the things you don't like about the others. They say more good things about Macs than bad things about PCs, they address some common misconceptoins, and they're fun. I really like those 3.

EDIT: I also don't think price and speed need to be mentioned as much anymore. First of all, the average consumer isn't focused on speed so much anymore. They realize that ALL computers are about 10 million times faster than 'Word' needs them to be. People who CARE about speed probably know about the Intel switch. Talking about speed is a waste of time right now.

And I think 'price' was addressed in the "WSJ" ad. Besides, I think pushing the virus message is all you need. Talking about spyware is probably enough to make any Windows user stop thinking about price so much! As someone said, people don't think about 'price' when it comes to iPods. They just know they want one. Getting THAT feeling for the Mac is much, much better than actually TALKING about price and saying "it's not so much...really!" Better to just make them want it at any price. Once they check them out online they'll see the price isn't so horrible.

View Name:Guest
Subject:
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Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: The First Shot
View Name:Guest
Subject: Image...
View Name:Guest
Subject: Actually, no…
View Name:Guest
Subject:
Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Perhaps if they had depicted "Mac Man" as a doctor, lawyer, investment-banker in a few of the ads it would help boost Apple's credibility in the business world? Hell, Apple really need to do _something_ to boost corporate sales.
Hey wow the login system is working again!

I hate to break it to you man, but Apple is not going after the corporate market. They're sticking to their roots. I'm afraid its up to you to sell their credibility in the business world. Of course when you take into account just how dependent the REAL business world is on Microsoft's various server products and technologies, there really isn't much to work with there. I think Apple's decision "not to go there" is wise.

Close Name:kenaustus Posts: 602 Joined: 27 Jun 2003
Subject: Personally I like them

I think Apple faced a challenge in developing a series of ads that would work well with the general consumer. Lots of detailed information OS X isn't the way to go - IBM proved that with OS 2. The ads simply take one issue at a time in an easy, funny way and think they will be well received.

It isn't that bad for the older folks either - I'm 61 and enjoyed all of the ads. I think Apple has a winner and will be delivering similar ads on different topics over time.

View Name:Guest
Subject: These will get people's attention
Close Name:Al Swearengen Posts: 339 Joined: 10 May 2005
Subject: Swap the guys

if they want to switch the corporate types then portray some suit as a cool Mac user.

View Name:Guest
Subject: What? A PC can't connect to a digital camera?
View Name:Guest
Subject: Well said
View Name:Guest
Subject: Funny but off...
View Name:Guest
Subject: What "cool" kid wants a computer with no games?
Close Name:Rainy Day Posts: 607 Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Subject: Justin should look so nice!

I think i’d prefer this “Mac”.

Close Name:DaiMac Posts: 952 Joined: 29 Jun 2001
Subject: At last

I didn't want to comment on these ads until I saw them actually in rotation, in "the wild" as it were rather than on my computer screen. I was worried they would only appear on prime time TV, but the fact that they're running on ESPN's sportcenter this morning is a very positive sign.

This is literally what I've been waiting for since the early 90s, a campaign that does more than rely on coolness or brand strength to sell macs. I particularly love the virus one, because it is an almost perfect blend of simplicity and message, the message being "Mac: It just works".

I do agree with other posters that there is room for improvement, but these ads are such a quantum leap beyond the switcher ads or the Intel Snail/clean room suit ads of the past in effectiveness that I can forgive their minor failings. Not every apple Ad can match the pure rhetorical power of the classic 1984 spot, but this might be the closest they have come since.

A few thoughts on the iLife spot:
The belt Hodgman is wearing is awesome, both because it illustrates the physical clutter of hardcore geeks and because it helps to undercut the sense of elitism and attack on "PC" in the ad; I think it makes the PC character more sympathetic. You'll also notice that the "Mac" is nothing but helpful to the PC, using a casual friendly tone to explain the advantages of Mac's without ever attacking directly. It certainly mirrors the most civilized and effective dialogues I've had with PC users considering the switch, which I doubt is coincidental.

Where the iLife ad falls short is that it doesn't really stress that these other apps (which most americans have probably never heard of) also make integration with the video and photo abilities of newer iPods easier.

Also, iWeb kinda sucks. If you want your site to have the Apple.Com look and feel its great, but trying to create a site with completely different graphical properties is much harder than it should be. I recently used it to do two different web sites for school projects, primarily because both were text-heavy sites that needed to be created very quickly (I usually hand-code) and because I refuse to use Frontpage (insert your own "I would rather have X horrible physical traumas than use Frontpage" statement here). Every time I created a new page it forced me to use a default template, so if I wanted a site with different backgrounds I was forced to manually reformat each time, and the fact that "You can't modify the appearance of the navigation menu" (from iWeb help) is just ridiculous. Anyway thats tertiary to these commercials, I just think iWeb is slightly undercooked compared to all the other apps in the iLife suite.

Finally, when they are comparing installed apps at the end of the commercial the first thing I thought of was games, a general weakness of Mac as others have noted here. This to me highlights the need for Apple to address this critical gap. I don't propose that they could ever compete with the volume of games for Windows, they would have to license DirectX to mac or create some type of compatibility layer for it before they could even begin to come close. What it does say to me is that Apple needs a true gaming killer app, likely an FPS, that has the same broad appeal and potential popularity as Halo, to bundle with 10.5. You can say all you want about running games in Boot Camp, which I would agree is cool, but its not enough. Nanosaur and Marble Blast are no longer sufficient, Apple needs its own dedicated gaming unit (buy BLIZZARD!) that turns out world-class games. They don't even need to be Mac exclusive games, they could put out PS2/3 or Gamecube/Revolution(Wii) versions as well, only MS platforms would be automatically excluded.

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble, but I'm actually excited about a new Apple ad campaign for the first time in a loooong while

View Name:Guest
Subject: Translation on "Networking" please
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: Hajimemashite
Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3063 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject:

If I understand correctly, it is something like:

"Who's that? Isn't he kind of a geek?" Or something along those lines.

Close Name:tbone1 -   TMO Staff Posts: 3973 Joined: 13 Jul 2001
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Can someone who speaks Japanese please translate what Mac guy and camera woman are saying?


"I will not buy this record, it is scratched."

View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: what the 'japanese camera' is saying in the ad
View Name:Guest
Subject: Re: Why is Apple making fun of geeks in "Networking&quo
View Name:Guest
Subjec